• NIAID allocated $208 million to fight emerging infectious diseases from bioterrorism

    Using its own research funds, augmented by stimulus package money, NIH awarded $208 million to two programs that support research better to understand the human immune response to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, including those that may be introduced into a community through acts of bioterrorism

  • U.K. regulator warns on school CCTV schemes

    A Manchester school installed CCTVs in school during the holidays, without notifying parents; the cameras were filming students changing for PE classes — and the pictures were kept on the schools’ computers; Information Commissioner says that there is no need for cameras to be on during the day, when the school is staffed

  • House tightens chemical plant safety bill

    A House bill is set to tighten some provisions of the original chemical plant safety bill of two years ago; specifically, the House bill demands that chemical plants be obligated to replace the most toxic and volatile — and, hence, the most dangerous — chemicals they use in their operations with safer substitutes — but in a nod to the chemical industry, the bill focuses only on the highest-risk plants, and it would make them use safer chemicals or processes only when DHS determines that they are feasible and cost-effective

  • Tighter immigration control spells troubles for the border economy

    There are many facets to the debate about the best way to handle illegal immigration into the United States, but for the 210 U.S. border counties, where the economy and immigration are tied closely together, tighter immigration control means slowdown in business activity

  • FDA to host traceability meeting

    FDA, USDA to hold a day-long conference to discuss the core elements of product tracing systems, gaps in current product tracing systems, and mechanisms to enhance product tracing systems for food in an effort to increase the speed and accuracy of traceback investigations and trace forward operations

  • New York receives $3 million boost for cyber security

    The funding will help New York State’s Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination (CSCIC) conduct work with the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC); the MS-ISAC is the first and only facility dedicated to state, local and territorial governments in the country and the funding is expected to enhance the center’s capabilities

  • Why does aviation security receive so much money relative to ground transportation security?

    Each year, more than 26 million passengers travel through Logan Airport; on an average month, more than the 20 million ride the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority; yet, more than $30 billion have been spent on aviation security since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, compared to just $1.5 billion for security on public transportation

  • Israel to use cell phone alert system for rocket attacks

    The IDF says that, in two years, Israeli citizens will receive cell-phone alerts in case of a rocket attack by Iran, Hamas, or Hezbollah; sophisticated rocket sensor will calculate the trajectory of the rockets, predict the impact zone, and send a warning to all phones in that area

  • U.S. vetoed Israeli attack on ship carrying arms for Hezbollah

    The Israeli Navy captured a ship heading toward Syria with weapons for Hezbollah; the manifest said the ship was carrying “parts for bulldozers,” but containers on the ship were found to contain more than 500 tons of weapons — thousands of medium-range 107- and 122-millimeter rockets, armor-piercing artillery, hand grenades, and ammunition for Kalashnikov rifles; the haul included more than 3,000 rockets, which is the equivalent of about 10 percent of Hezbollah rocket arsenal

  • JASON says computer models cannot predict terrorist events

    Pentagon advisory panel concludes that extreme terrorist events such as the 9/11 attacks cannot be predicted by computer models because the data re too sparse; “it is simply not possible to validate (evaluate) predictive models of rare events that have not occurred, and unvalidated models cannot be relied upon”

  • Afghan insurgents have found ways to destroy MRAPs

    The Pentagon has spent more than $26.8 billion to develop and build three versions of the largest Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles, or MRAPs, totaling some 16,000 vehicles, mostly for the Army and Marine Corps; another $5.4 billion is being spent to produce 5,244 M-ATVs, the smaller version that U.S. defense officials contend offers as much protection as the large models do, but is more maneuverable and better suited to Afghanistan’s dirt tracks and narrow mountain roads; insurgents in Afghanistan have found ways to cripple, and even destroy, the vehicle

  • Iran tested advanced nuclear warhead design

    The “two-point implosion” is one of the most guarded secrets in nuclear weapons states; yet Iranian engineers, in what Western nuclear experts describe as a breakthrough, has tested such a design, which much be described as a giant leap in acquiring nuclear weapons

  • Iraqis use "magic wand" at checkpoints to detect explosives; U.S. officer: this is "laughable"

    The Iraqi government has spent tens of millions of U.S. aid dollars to buy thousands of “magic wands” which are supposed to detect explosives at checkpoints; one American officer says the device works “on the same principle as a Ouija board”; another officer says that to believe the claims of the British company which is selling the device, and of the Iraqi authorities that swear by it, “would be laughable” — except that people are dying as a result; “[the company and Iraqi government have] crossed an insupportable line into moral depravity” he says

  • Gait-recognition biometric technology to help soldiers manning checkpoints

    SET Corporation is developing a technology which directs low-power radar beams at people — who can be 50 yards or more away; early research indicates that this method could one day be augmented with video-analysis software that spots bombers by discerning subtle differences in gait that occur when people carry heavy objects

  • Black-market cigarettes could fund terrorism, RCMP fear

    Canadian authorities worry that the booming black market trade in cigarettes could be used to finance terrorism; many Indian reservations are used as bases for the illicit trade